Residents Crowd NHP-GCP Budget Input Session

Residents of the New Hyde Park-Garden City Park School District flooded the small gymnasium of the Hillside Grade School last Monday for a budget input session, pleading with the board of education not to cut enrichment programs for the 2012-13 school year including art, music, the Odyssey program and math and science enrichment such as science labs.

“Whenever we wish to impress our elder population or get parents to come to the school, we hold concerts, math and Odyssey fairs and artist submissions, yet these are the very programs that year after year are threatened to be cut,” one mother said to the board.

As is the case with other school districts across the state, the 2 percent tax cap has limited what can NHP-GCP can pay for in its annual budget. Other neighboring school districts, such as Herricks, have had to downsize employees in order to maintain services and programs.

“Picture what your life would be for one day without music, without art, without the color and beauty of art, without access to a library to get a book, without movement or exercise or dare I say without the use of a computer,” Kerri Bruno, a mother of a New Hyde Park Road School student, said. “Because without those things I think none of us  would be able to function so we can’t expect our children to thrive if they don’t have these essential things in their lives.” It was also noted that NHP-GCP was ranked 59th out of 682 school districts in the state.

While the NHP-GCP Board of Education has not formally presented a budget, the input session was a forum for the trustees to receive information about what the community wishes to include for next year.

“I understand the task of preparing this year’s budget will be even more challenging and would appreciate your consideration of once again maintaining important programs, proper staffing and keeping our class sizes to a reasonable number,” said Manor Oaks PTA  Vice-President Lisa Ugolini.

Throughout the 45-minute session, parents and community members were of the same mind, imploring the board to keep enrichment programs for the students beyond the basic academic offerings.

“The ‘extras’ have all been taken away over the years; we have stripped down the budget to what I call and know are the essentials,” Laura Debbage, who has students at both Manor Oaks and New Hyde Park Memorial, said. “How do we retain our property value and neighborhood appeal if our schools have less to offer than New York City schools? We are not asking for excess, we are demanding a well-rounded education for our future.”

Maureen Bryant asked for the strings program to continue “because in my eyes a world without music is like a world without color.”

Another mother stated that her gifted son “began to act up” after not being enrolled in an enrichment program when they first came into the district in third grade but “settled down” in fourth grade and now receiving “straight A’s.” She said that “I don’t think it would have been possible without the extra challenge that the enrichment program’s provided for him,” and suggested asking teachers make a “compromise” on their salaries much like the high school teachers did by agreeing to a pay freeze for one year.

“We see no reason for any one of the district staff to be paid higher than the town supervisor, county executive, or the chief of police of our county just to run our four little grammar schools,” Hillside Grade School PTA member Frank Cienski said.

“While there is emphasis on raising test scores for the underperforming children, it should not undermine the development of children with great potential,” resident Josephine Schwartz said.

A New Hyde Park Road School mother with students in odyssey and math enrichment pleaded for those programs to remain, saying they “challenge the students and give them an opportunity to explore areas above and beyond the standard curriculum.”